Havin' a Little Fun
by Miss Raye
Summary: Eric Sofer is lookin' for a little fun...


Havin' a Little Fun by: Raye  
  
Category: Angst  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Spoilers: Based on a scene from 29 seconds  
  
Summary: Eric Sofer is lookin' for a little fun...  
  
Warnings: Not the pretty side of Eric's mind... heck, it's not the pretty side of anything.  
  
Note: This story preceeds another one in time... for the next story .. please read, "Eyes Wide Open"  
  
Disclaimer: Didn't create em.. don't own 'em.. and i'm just tryin' to have a little fun... so don't sue me or take pot shots.. i'm just human.  
  
Lord knows that Eric Sofer had had enough of life the way it was. Little more than trash in the eyes of the people of the town, he was used to the disgust in their eyes. He told himself that's why he started drinking.  
  
It had gotten worse over the last few years and no one had cared to say anything about it, except.. "Want another whiskey, boy?"  
  
So why stop?  
  
Today, he'd started up just after noon. First whiskey.. then mescal... and then by the time the money was gone from his pockets he'd seen quite a few worms and downed them without a thought.  
  
Leaning heavily against the center post of the saloon he'd only had one thought on his mind as the drink ran out. Katie Owens.  
  
He'd seen her in his dreams lately... dreams muddled by the alcohol pickling his brain. He drowned his thoughts with another swig of mescal and suddenly there she was, walking just outside the saloon. He saw the sharp swish of skirts around her ankles, her long strides stretching the fabric as she moved. The other thing that never failed to catch his eye was the proud lift of her chin. She certainly was a different kind of woman that he was used to. She was a pretty girl, but she had a whipcord wit that needled him so.  
  
Eric tossed back the last swish of pale liquid and set the bottle on the nearest table. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and then across the leg of his britches before he made for the door.  
  
The bat-wing door swung open a little to fast for his comfort and he nearly tumbled out into the street. Grabbing onto the shoulders of the men heading up into the saloon, he was able to make his way down the stairs without disgracing himself. Looking to the south end of town, he saw her again, passing under the gas lamp outside of the Doctor's office. "Lucy," he mumbled. She was going to Lucy's house.  
  
His feet plodded along as he trudged through the darkness. His eyes locked on the house at the end of the row. Lucy's house. 'Those were a pair', he thought, 'prideful little chits.' Neither of them had ever given him a lick of attention. Good attention, anyway.  
  
Stopping one house back, he watched. Watched as Lucy opened the wrapped package that Katie held, her eyes opening wide as she removed the steaming pie.  
  
The two girls gabbed on excitedly as his anger grew. Why was he so different? Why was he looked down on?  
  
Lucy placed a friendly kiss on Katie's cheek and waved her goodbyes. Empty handed now, Katie turned and started back the way she came. She stopped in her tracks when she heard his voice. "Got anything for me, Katie?"  
  
Her gaze was icy. "No, Eric, I don't."  
  
She started forward, but he stepped into her path. "Don't go runnin' off, Katie. I just wanted to talk to ya."  
  
He could see her fear, smell it in the change of the wind... but he didn't think anything of it. Couldn't think, not when he was so liquored up and she was so damned pretty.  
  
Eric leaned in closer, drunk on his own dreams and caring for little else. He was only a few inches away from kissing her when he saw her hand pull back.  
  
She wound up and would've clocked him a good one if he hadn't grabbed her arm first. She yelped as his fingers closed around her forearm, fingers digging into her flesh with shock and anger. "Don't recall tellin' you ta take a swing at me.. I jus' wanted a little good-night kiss, Katie.. don't need ta be so mean."  
  
Her eyes blazed with the lamp light shining over his shoulder. "You ain't a man I want to kiss, Eric.. Let me go."  
  
The laughter ringing in his ears seemed to come from somewhere over his shoulder, but the hoarse scrape in his throat belied that fact. "I think you don't know what kind of a man is any good at kissin', Katie. Seems to me a girl like you probably ain't got too much to say about that. How many boys you kiss anyway?"  
  
He heard her sharply indrawn breath and knew he'd thrown the right barb.  
  
"That is none of your business."  
  
Eric saw red. He felt it creep up through his veins and slip in front of his eyes. Pulling her tightly against him, he ignored her gasp of outrage and the fear swimming in her eyes. This time, he wasn't going to be ignored.  
  
Katie squirmed against him, with a whimper of fear whistling past her lips. "Please, Eric.. just let me go."  
  
His tongue flickered over suddenly dry lips, burning over alcohol-dried cracks in his skin. "Not yet, Katie-girl, not just yet."  
  
He leaned in for a kiss, his mind whirling with thoughts and drowning with drink. She brought her foot down on the instep of his foot, hard.  
  
Eric tasted blood as his teeth perforated his lip, and bringing his hand up to his mouth he gave her the opportunity she was waiting for. She pulled away from him, fear giving her the strength to break away from his other hand.  
  
As she pulled away, her eyes wide with fear, his fingers dug into the fabric of her sleeve and in the quiet of the night the sharp rip of fabric blared out into the street.  
  
Katie stumbled back a few steps, her hand covering the hole as best she could with quivering fingers. "Stay away from me."  
  
Eric felt a little contrite. The shock had sobered him up, if only just a bit and he didn't want her to run away.. He wanted... fun. "Come on, Katie.. don't be mad."  
  
"No!" She shouted the word and backed away, half running, half stumbling... "No!"  
  
Katie disappeared into the woods, her skirts fluttering out behind her like the brightly colored tail feathers of a pheasant. A wolfish grin stretched Eric's lips. "A hunt? Now that's what I call fun." 


End file.
